JAKARTA - Airstrikes hit Gaza on Tuesday, flattening entire districts and filling morgues with Palestinians, as Israel retaliates against Hamas attacks that have sparked the worst bloodshed in 75 years of conflict.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington said the death toll from the Hamas attack on weekends had surpassed 1,000 people. Most of the victims were civilians. Dozens of Israelis and some foreigners were arrested and taken to Gaza as hostages, some paraded on the streets.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Ministry of Health said Israel's retaliatory airstrikes had killed at least 830 people and injured 4,250 people as of Tuesday, where attacks increased at night.
The United Nations says more than 180,000 Gazans have lost their homes, many of whom are crowding the streets or schools.
"Hamas want change and they will make it happen. What used to be in Gaza will no longer exist," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said while speaking with his troops near Gaza.
"We started the attack from the air, later we will also come from the ground. We have controlled the area since the 2nd day and we carried out attacks. This will only get more intensive," continued Gallant.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Israeli attacks since Saturday have destroyed more than 22,600 housing units and 10 health facilities and damaged 48 schools.
Separately, a Hamas official said two senior members of the group's political offices, Jawad Abu Shammala and Zakaria Abu Maamar, were killed in an airstrike in Khan Younis.
They were the first senior Hamas members to be killed since Israel began to attack the enclave. Israel itself accuses Abu Shammala of leading a number of operations targeting Israeli civilians.
VOIR éGALEMENT:
In this regard, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the attacks by both Hamas and Israel, where schools and UN buildings were also attacked.
"The international humanitarian law is clear, the obligation to always be careful to save civilians and civilian objects remains in effect during the attack," he stressed.
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